To accommodate the recent expansion of its staff, Kansas Gastroenterology, 848 N. St. Francis, will soon move into the former Ted’s Montana Grill near K-96 and Webb Road.

“It’s an exciting time in the practice,” said gastroenterologist Michael Lievens. “We really stuck our neck out with the building and hiring new people at same time, in terms of capital investment, which is substantial. I’m excited to see how it comes to fruition, and we couldn’t be happier.”

The current location will close at noon Thursday. Offices will open Sept. 17 at the new location, 3121 N. Webb Road. The offices also will house Kansas Endoscopy.

Over the summer, Kansas Gastroenterology hired two more physicians: gastroenterologists Eiad Nasser and Akshay Gupta. Gupta has special training in esophageal ultrasound, a new procedure at the clinic.

Lievens said Gupta’s training is unmatched in the area, and he is bringing skills to Wichita that are new to the market.

“We’ll have more capability in terms of room and volume, but (Nasser and Gupta have) each brought new technical experience and technology,” Lievens said.

The new location doubles the size of the old endoscopy unit and has additional procedure recovery beds, said office manager Sandy Zernickow.

The space at the former restaurant also has been completely reworked.

“We’ve completely gutted the inside,” Zernickow said. “Everything’s totally new – where medical office building and reception is. The facility is absolutely gorgeous.”

The work included expanding the space at the former Ted’s from 5,000 square feet to about 22,500 square feet, Zernickow said, including pouring a basement. The groundbreaking at the new location was in October 2011.

Kansas Gastroenterology has been at its current location since 2003, Zernickow said. It was established by Lievens and Estephan N. Zayat.

“We’re on top of one another in current space we have. ... (The building) hasn’t had a capital investment in 20 years or so, and it shows, whereas this is much more updated and the design and layout are more suited to what we need,” Lievens said.

The new building, purchased by Lievens and Zayat, will also have two spaces available for lease that are each about 3,500 square feet. J.P. Weigand and Sons will handle the leases.

Hutton Construction and Spangenberg Phillips Tice Architects worked on the modifications to the building.

Both of Wichita’s Ted’s Montana Grill locations were closed in 2010, along with seven others across the country. The chain was started by media mogul Ted Turner in 2002.